


My heart is literally bursting for you

by bluesargayent



Category: Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cute, F/F, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 06:30:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14014239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesargayent/pseuds/bluesargayent
Summary: “I’m a foreign exchange student and my accent made me pronounce the name of this solute incorrectly so you put the wrong solute into the solution in science class and accidentally blew up the beaker and wait do you really think that my accent’s cute because it’s sort of the reason we’re in detention right now” AU





	My heart is literally bursting for you

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](http://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/170230614515/im-a-foreign-exchange-student-and-my-accent-made) tumblr post

Iko was running late for class. 

She knew she shouldn’t have made that pit stop to the bathroom after spending so long talking to Cinder, but she couldn’t help it. Now, as she stumbled through the door, she locked eyes on the first open seat she could find and plopped down before Mr. Erland noticed her arrival. Hopefully, he hadn’t taken attendance yet, too eager to set them off on their newest experiment.

They had already briefly discussed what they were doing yesterday in their normal chem class, but Thursday felt like ages ago so Iko needed a huge refressure. In addition, the students in her lab were different than those in her class, so she no longer had Cinder to keep her on track.

She found herself sitting smack across the table from Émilie Monfort, the beautiful French exchange student, new this year. She was instantly hit with flashbacks of the first day of chemistry that week, where Cinder continuously teased her for staring at Émilie’s stunning dyed blonde curls the entire class, instead of listening to the teacher. Now that Iko was sitting directly across from the girl, well, all hope of ever being able to focus in the class was tossed out the window.

“Hello,” Émilie smiled, her accent causing her to drop the h sound. “How are you?”

“Great. I’m, wow, I’m great.” She responded. “I’m Iko. I mean, I’m great, but my name is Iko.”

The girl across from her laughed. “Nice to meet you. My name is Émilie, but you may call me Em.”

“Nice to meet you, too! Uh, has Erland given any instructions, yet?”

Em paused for a moment. “Yes, he gave us papers with instructions on it, for an experiment. I can ask him for another one.” 

“Maybe we could just share?” Iko suggested, not wanting to draw attention to the fact she was late.

“Of course.”

Émilie read the instructions carefully, and Iko couldn’t help but fall in love with the way her voice swayed, like it was dancing to some invisible ballet music. Her words swirled around her mouth, and she somehow made the chemical names sound more elegant than Iko ever could with her American accent.

She grabbed the chemicals from the cabinet under the table as Em read them aloud out to her. The foreign exchange student had to repeat several of the names so Iko could find them, but eventually they were able gather all the materials and combine them as the recipe directed.

“Did you ever have chem class back in France?” She asked, handing the box of matches over to Em to light the bunsen burner.

Em frowned and shook her head. “No. I would have taken it this year if I were back home. Do you mind using the matches? I do not like fire.”

“No fire?” Iko repeated, before quirking an eyebrow and slowly pushing the unlit matches closer to Émilie.

“No!” The other girl cried, and the two of them giggled as she fended off the imaginary attack, drawing annoyed looks from the rest of the class. Finally, Iko broke.

“Okay, okay, I give in.” Iko pulled the box of matches back towards her, still laughing, and struck one against the coarse side of the box. A small flame flickered at the end of the stick, and she carefully used it to light the bunsen burner sitting in front of them.

“Okay,” Em continued, “Now you hold the test tube’s base over the flame and observe the color of the solution.”

Iko complied, using metal tongs to hold the solution over the flame. It began as a nice blue color, so she looked down for a moment to make a note in her lab notebook.

“Iko, is this right?”

“Is what right?” Iko asked, still scribbling her observations.

“It is, ah, smoking?”

She looked up in confusion, only to find the solution beginning to boil over, contents coming dangerously close to her fingers. Instinctively, Iko jerked her hand away from the flame, causing the chemicals to spill onto the fire and explode in the air. Both she and Émilie shrieked in surprise, causing Mr. Erland to rush over to their side. 

“What’s wrong here?” His eyes widened as he took in the scene, and the hazy remnants that hung in the air, making Iko hope they had not just filled the room with toxic gas.

Apparently Mr. Erland shared this concern because he immediately ordered the two of them away from the table. He slid his safety glasses down from his forehead. “Everyone!” He declared, “Please make your way _in a calm fashion_ outside to the soccer field!”

The students surrounding them looked around, unsure whether he was being serious or not. Just then, a rather impressive fireworks display sparked to life on the table in front of them. The students hurried towards the door.

Iko and Émilie exchanged a very concerned look before following suit.

Mr. Erland sighed in exasperation. He had hoped they would at least get through their first lab without someone blowing something up.

* * *

Iko felt it was the least she could when she sat next to the uncomfortable girl sitting on her own during detention after school that day.

She leaned over to nudge Émilie with her shoulder, whispering, “Sorry about getting you your first detention.”

Émilie’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, it was not your fault! I must have I misread several of the chemicals we were to add to the tube. I apologize for that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I probably should have checked the labels anyway to make sure.”

“No, it is this stupid accent!” Em griped. “I try to say words like you, but I always end up saying them wrong!”

Iko laughed. Unfortunately, Émilie seemed to take that the wrong way.

“Stop making fun! I cannot help the way I talk, any more than you can.” She snarled.

“No!” Iko rushed to cut in, “I’m not making fun, Em, I promise! I was just remembering how much I loved hearing you talk and found it ironic.”

“Loved hearing me talk?” 

“What? I mean, yeah, your accent is really cute, like you are, and I kind of got distracted.”

“You think I’m cute?” She grinned. The way she said it proved to Iko that she was repeating her words to rub them in, rather than for confirmation.

“Well, yeah.” Iko blushed. 

“Good.” Émilie paused, leaving Iko hanging in the most insufferable way, before continuing, “I think you are very cute, too.”

“ _Shhhhh!_ ” Ms. Sybil walked down the aisle to tell them that talking was prohibited in detention.

As soon as the teacher walked away, however, Iko found a note tossed onto her desk.

_Would you like to go out on a date with me tomorrow? -Émilie_  
[ ] yes [ ] oui  



End file.
